


lavender and honey

by loverstouch



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, aj is super flustered in this bc i love her blushing face, also aj is a one direction stan i dont accept criticism, coffee shop AU, i gave mc tattoos bc i have tattoos ok, its totally cliche but i was bored and wrote this at 2am so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25763836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loverstouch/pseuds/loverstouch
Summary: AJ’s life is perfect. Well, almost perfect.She has a loving family, her dream job, a nice flat, and the best friends a girl could ask for.The only thing she’s really missing is someone to love, but she isn’t too worried about that. She’s young, and she knows she’s pretty, and people like to take her out on dates pretty often. None of it ever seems to stick, which is the problem, but AJ figures it’s just a matter of time. For now, she’s content playing hockey with her friends and spending time with her parents. The pay is decent, and she likes seeing her family every week. So she waits and hopes her special someone is just around the corner.
Relationships: AJ/Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	lavender and honey

**Author's Note:**

> ah so
> 
> this totally sucks and i know it, but hey! maybe we'll get the ball rolling on some more AJ fanfic or something idk. i'd love to see some more stuff posted for my girl :)
> 
> this is honestly just for me to post i dont expect anyone to read this or enjoy it im just bored and tired and gay, also im american and i dont know if british cafės are the same as ours so just overlook all those technicalities ok

AJ’s life is perfect. Well, almost perfect.

She has a loving family, her dream job, a nice flat, and the best friends a girl could ask for.

The only thing she’s really missing is someone to love, but she isn’t too worried about that. She’s young, and she knows she’s pretty, and people like to take her out on dates pretty often. None of it ever seems to stick, which is the problem, but AJ figures it’s just a matter of time. For now, she’s content playing hockey with her friends and spending time with her parents. The pay is decent, and she likes seeing her family every week. So she waits and hopes her special someone is just around the corner.

\-- 

She’s sitting at a small table on Monday morning, waiting on two medium cold brews from her favorite cafė, when she hears a voice in front of her.

“Mind if I sit here?”

AJ looks up and stares. There’s a girl smiling at her, with plump pink lips and brown eyes twinkling in the sunlight. Her dark brown hair spills over her shoulder and AJ can see a large tattoo peeking out of the sleeve of her shirt near her bicep. There’s a few other smaller tattoos littering down her other arm that AJ can’t quite make out. AJ’s eyes trail down to the girl’s hands, where she’s holding a drink and a bag in one hand, the other gesturing slightly at the chair opposite AJ. She’s gorgeous and AJ has to force herself to speak. “Yeah, of course, go ahead!” She lets the pretty girl sit with her. AJ isn’t dumb, after all, despite her teammates’ occasional teasing.

“Thanks,” the girl takes the other seat, setting down her drink and what looks like a small bag of sweets. AJ smiles at her. She smells faintly of lavender and honey. It’s intoxicating, and AJ has to stop herself from breathing in too deeply to avoid looking like a creep. “It’s packed today.”

“Yeah, it’s usually super busy on Mondays and Wednesdays. Takes, like, twice as long to get my cold brew.”

“You’re a regular, then?” The girl turns to fully face her, slender fingers lightly gripping her beverage. A few of the rings on her hands shine in the sunlight.

AJ nods. “Yeah, I usually get a cold brew every morning before practice starts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a morning person and all, but it’s just so hard to start doing laps without a little boost. Plus, I usually pick up one of my teammates for practice, and she’s a complete demon without caffeine, so I like to get her something to drink too.”  
  
A small quirk of the girl’s lips makes AJ feel childish, like she’s ten years old again and she thinks she might need to stop talking so much. “What do you play?”

“Hockey,” AJ beams. “Since primary school. Never thought I’d end up going pro, to be honest. I always thought I’d be a pretty good vet, though.”

This makes the girl break into a grin. “So, was science your thing in school? Besides athletics, you know?”

“Oh, no. I was awful at science. I liked history, though.”

“If you weren’t good at science, why’d you think you could be a vet?” The girl looks amused.

AJ falters a little. “Um, I don’t really know. I just really like animals. I thought it’d be fun!” A small pout appears on her face.

The girl snorts and AJ feels a little self-conscious. “You’re cute.” AJ’s heart flutters. “I think you’d be a good vet. You seem like you’d be a quick learner. But, like, maybe you could start by just keeping the animals company. I’d totally let you play with my kitty.”

AJ blinks.

The girl continues, “I just moved here, like, two months ago. Found out this shop is pretty close to where I work, so I thought I’d check it out today before I went in. Maybe get some work done early.”

“It’s great. I don’t go anywhere else. I actually used to work here when I was younger. I come here almost every day during the week, but on weekends I just stay home and make a cuppa. I should probably cut down on the caffeine. My coach says I’m too energetic sometimes. But working out helps me calm down, so.” AJ realizes she’s rambling a little again, so she shuts her mouth and feels her cheeks grow warm. The girl is smiling at her like she knows AJ is nervous.

A voice calls out loudly from the counter at the front of the cafė. “Two medium vanilla cold brews for AJ!”

AJ stands to get her drinks. “Hey, that’s what I got, too!” The girl raises her beverage and takes another sip as AJ walks off.

AJ knows this means she’s going to have to leave soon to pick up her teammate Sophie, but she just gets up, grabs her drinks, and returns to her table. When she goes to sit back down, she gets a better look at the tattoos on the girl’s arms. The biggest one is still mostly covered, but it looks like it might be a woman’s face with snakes coming out of her head, like a gorgon. It’s pretty. She can see on the other arm there’s a rose and a dagger, and what might be a duck or some other small bird. Near her wrist there’s a bee and a cross. The girl is taking a small sip of her drink.

As she sits, the girl starts talking again. “So you’re a history buff, then?” The girl smirks at her. “I liked history, too, and English. I’m pretty into writing, actually.”

Letting out a little laugh, AJ says, “Yeah, I loved history. Just, like learning about the world and our past, you know? What kind of stuff do you write?”

Humming quietly, the girl leans forward a little. “Mostly just short stories. I’m no novelist, but I just have tons of little stories floating around in my head. Like little daydreams I like to write down and reimagine, I guess. I do poetry, too, but only when I’m in the mood. I love to read, too. This is a little embarrassing, but I used to be part of a book club.” AJ smiles a little at the thought of this girl meeting up with people to talk about her favorite literature. She takes a sip of her cold brew and rubs at her eyes a little, still feeling a bit tired from waking up early.

“I like reading sometimes. I read on planes and, like, on the buses to our matches. I usually just listen to music though.”

“What kind of music?”

“Oh, um, a bit of everything, honestly.” AJ says dumbly before clearing her throat. “I mean, I’m pretty into, like, indie and pop. Not exclusively, but I just like the vibes. This is a secret, but I think One Direction might actually be my top artist…”

“Nothing wrong with that,” the girl nods. “I like their solo stuff, too, but I’m really into Harry’s music, to be honest. Like, pop rock, you know? I dig that kind of sound.” She pauses to glance at AJ. “I used to be a huge fan of One Direction, too. Well, I still am. You can probably tell.”

“I bet I was a bigger fan,” AJ jokes. “I kissed my posters goodnight. Gave an extra kiss to Liam every time.”

The girl bursts out laughing. “I kissed mine, too! I even wrote fanfiction. Maybe that’s where my love of writing started.”

AJ giggles. “I probably read your fanfiction at some point. I used to have a fan account on Twitter. My biggest accomplishment in life is that Liam follows me.”

“No way.” The girl's eyes widen and she leans forward, grabbing AJ’s hand. “You’re so lucky. I probably would’ve cried if one of them followed me.” AJ’s hand tingles at the sensation of the other girl touching her, and she notices the warmth of their hands together. It gives her a funny feeling in her stomach.

She clears her throat. “Yeah, sometimes I play their music for the team before our games. They judged me the last time I played Act My Age, though. No taste.” She shakes her head and the girl laughs. AJ takes another sip of her cold brew and looks up. The girl is staring at her, and AJ feels herself getting a little warm again.

“Sorry, you’ve just got, like, an eyelash…” AJ lifts her hands and swipes at her cheeks, but she must have missed it, because the girl gently lifts a hand to AJ’s cheek and sweeps away the eyelash. She looks down at it for a moment like she’s wishing on it, then blows it away. When she looks up, she’s giving AJ a soft smile. AJ can hear her own heartbeat pick up and she blushes. The girl’s hand falls back onto AJ’s, her fingers curling slightly around her hand, and she makes a small happy noise.

After a beat, the girl moves her hand. AJ pretends not to be disappointed. The girl reaches for her bag of sweets, opening it and eating one. “You want some?”

“What is it?”

“Jelly Babies.”

“Oh, please. Thank you.” AJ smiles brightly at her, and the girl grins back.

They sit in silence for a few minutes as the barista keeps calling out names, sharing the sweets and taking sips of their drinks. They steal small glances at each other. It feels peaceful.

The moment is ruined when AJ’s phone starts ringing. Clumsily, she pulls it out of her pocket and her eyes widen when she sees who’s calling. It’s her teammate, Sophie, no doubt wondering where she is. “Oh, crap.” She quickly accepts the call and says into the phone, “I’m on my way right now!” She hangs up before her teammate can say anything.

“Everything okay?” The girl looks concerned. AJ nods quickly, standing and trying to ignore the cute furrow in the girl’s brow.

“I’m so sorry, but I’m totally going to be late for practice and I still have to pick up my teammate.” She wishes she could blow off practice to talk to this girl, but she knows she has to leave. Weirdly, her heart sinks a little.

“Oh,” the girl nods and gives her a smile. “Alright, well, it was nice meeting you!”

“It was nice meeting you too! Maybe we’ll see each other again? I mean, well, I’m here pretty much every morning. And I’ve always got an open seat, if you wanna…”

“If I wanna, like, share my Jelly Babies with you again?” The girl teases. She taps the near-empty bag and AJ blushes slightly.

“Um, is that, you know, something you’d be interested in?” AJ is flustered. She isn’t typically one to catch feelings so quickly, especially not after knowing someone for twenty minutes, but this girl already has her stomach doing somersaults. She plays with the ends of her hair and pretends like she isn’t having trouble breathing right now.

The girl’s mouth quirks up a little. “Well, AJ, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” AJ can see little dimples, and her heart melts a little.

AJ smiles widely and grabs her two cold brews. “See you around.” She gingerly takes a step back, waving shyly at the girl, then turns and walks out of the shop. She hears the girl laugh behind her, and she’s glad her blush is hidden this time.

\--

AJ doesn’t see the girl for another week. She tries not to feel disappointed, but she can’t help it. Every morning, she waited for her cold brew and lingered around a little, hoping the girl would walk in, but eventually she had to leave so she wouldn’t miss practice. Sophie had teased her endlessly when she explained why she was late, giggling over her cold brew at AJ’s blushing face. She had only teased her more when AJ realized she never asked the girl for her name. But it didn’t seem so funny now, as AJ began to wonder if maybe she’d scared the girl away from the cafė entirely.

It felt silly, but AJ almost felt like she got dumped. Which was completely ridiculous, seeing as they were definitely not dating. She didn’t even know the girl’s name. But she couldn’t get her out of her mind.

It’s an early Monday morning at practice and AJ is waiting in goal during a scrimmage when she hears a voice call from across the field. “Hey!” She looks up and squints. Sophie is jogging towards her, a scowl marring her typically neutral expression.

“Oh, hey Soph,” AJ nods at her. “What’s up?”

“You suck!” Sophie exclaims angrily. AJ blinks. “You’re so distracted! What’s up with you? You’re not still hung up on that girl, are you?”

“I can’t help it!” AJ sighs. “We had a connection, I know it… Look, I’m sorry. I’ll focus, I promise.”

“Why don’t you just go back and ask the baristas if she’s been by since you last saw her? Maybe her schedule is different now than it was that day or something. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.” Sophie looks bored, but there’s a hint of concern that slips onto her face. AJ feels dumb, losing her focus during practice so badly that her teammate has to give her a pep talk.

“You’re right. I’ll swing by after I drop you off.” Sophie just pats her on the back and runs back to her previous position across the field. AJ tries to focus for the rest of the scrimmage, pushing lavender and honey and tattoos out of her mind.

\--

Sophie gives AJ an encouraging smile and wave as she gets out of the car. “Keep me updated, yeah?” AJ nods and watches her step inside the door before sighing and slowly peeling out into the street again.

She approaches the cafė and parks, getting out of the car and opening the door. The bell chimes and she walks up to the counter. A familiar face greets her. “Hey AJ! Another cold brew?”

“Actually,” she coughs, “I was gonna ask if you’ve seen this girl in the past week. She’s got tattoos, like a rose and a gorgon, and long brown hair. I, uh, don’t actually know her name. I sat with her a couple weeks ago.”

The barista laughs. “Yeah, I know her. She usually comes in half an hour before you do. Gets two cold brews. I keep telling her it’s too much caffeine.”

AJ stares. She’s been just missing this girl by half an hour? “Thank you so much. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Not gonna order anything?”

She pauses. “Alright, I guess I’ll get another cold brew.”

\--

The next morning, AJ forces herself awake much earlier than usual. She even showers, which she normally doesn’t do before practice, seeing as she’s going to sweat all day anyway. But she’s hoping to catch this girl finally, and she wants to impress her.

She throws on a crop top and shorts, shoving her hockey uniform and equipment into her gym back. As she gets ready, her heart pounds a little in her chest. She makes sure she’s good to go before heading out towards the cafė.

_Chill_ , she thinks to herself. _It’s no big deal. Just coffee, if she’s there. Oh, man, I hope she’s there._

She shows up at the cafė an hour earlier than usual, ordering two medium vanilla cold brews. She sits at the same table they’d sat at before and waits.

Twenty minutes go by, and she’s bouncing her leg and staring at the door in hope when finally, the door opens, and the bell chimes, and the girl walks in. AJ’s breath catches in her throat. Nervously, she lifts a hand and sends a shy wave at the girl.

The girl grins and practically skips over to her table. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hey! It’s been a while, huh?” AJ can’t stop the huge smile from spreading across her face.

“I’m so sorry,” the girl says apologetically. “I was actually already late for work that day before we even started chatting, so I had to start coming in earlier.”

“You were already late but you came and sat with me?” AJ says dumbly. She might be mistaken, but she thinks the girl’s cheeks turn slightly pink. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I saw you and I thought you were really cute,” she says bluntly. AJ blinks. “You ran out on me so quickly, though, and I forgot to tell you I was gonna have to come in earlier.”

“You think I’m cute?”

“Well, duh. I thought you could tell I was flirting with you.”

AJ blushes. “Oh. I’m not that great at picking up on stuff like that.” The girl laughs brightly.

“I see that now. It’s all good, though. I’ll make it really obvious for you from now on.” The girl moves closer, noticing the two cold brews on the table. “Picking up your teammate again today?”

“Actually, she’s getting a ride from someone else today.” AJ clears her throat. “I was hoping you would take this one.”

The girl gives her a gentle smile. “Mind if I sit here?” AJ grins bashfully.

“I would love it if you did.”

The girl pulls out the chair and sits, reaching for the cold brew. “Thank you, AJ.”

“Of course…” She falters a little, realizing she still doesn’t know the girl’s name.

“Maya.” The girl laughs. “You know, I was a little offended you never asked me for my name.”

“I didn’t realize! And you never asked for mine, either!”

“That’s fair,” Maya nods. “But I was listening when the barista called out your drinks.”

AJ hums, taking a sip of her cold brew. “Sneaky. I like it.” Maya smirks at that. She reaches for AJ’s hand under the table, giving it a little squeeze before pulling away. AJ finds herself blushing again as Maya reaches for something in her handbag. She pulls out a small bag of Jelly Babies and AJ bursts out laughing. “You’re a dork.”

“Maybe,” Maya winks. “But it’s only fair. You got me coffee!”

“Oh, yeah, the barista told me you usually get two. I hope this is enough.” Maya stares at AJ. “What?”

“I was getting two because I was hoping I could share with you.” Maya gives her a goofy smile. “You beat me to it.”

“Oh.” AJ’s cheeks grow warm. Maya just pops a couple Jelly Babies in her mouth and chews. AJ plays with her hair for a moment before she speaks. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Maya lets out a laugh. “Of course. I was wondering how long it would take you to ask. You’re so cute when you’re all, like, embarrassed and flustered.”

“You make me, like, really nervous. All full of butterflies, you know?” Maya just smiles at this and intertwines their fingers, laying her head on AJ’s shoulder.

A while later, Maya checks the time and says, “I gotta leave for work…” She sighs a little and looks at AJ. “Here, give me your phone.” AJ hands it to her.

“I wish you could ditch.” AJ pouts and Maya laughs. She fiddles with AJ’s phone a little before handing it back.

“Now you’ve got my number. Text me, alright babes?” She leans down and presses a small kiss to AJ’s cheek before pulling away. She giggles a little at the redness on AJ’s cheeks.

“Bye, Maya.” AJ gives her a silly wave as she walks out of the cafė, holding her cold brew in one hand and waving back with the other.

So yeah, AJ’s life is almost perfect. But she thinks, with Maya, she’s finally found what she’d been missing for so long. She smiles at the thought and lifts the cold brew to her lips, taking a sip, and she swears it tastes like lavender and honey.

**Author's Note:**

> i completely realize there are probably a ton of things wrong with this, seeing as its 2:40am and im exhausted, but im kind of in love with AJ so i couldn't resist writing a little something for her. dont be too harsh i havent written anything besides short paragraphs since high school so im not used to writing anymore lol
> 
> i cant wait for the new episode, i miss my girl so much


End file.
